


I Like You A Lot

by Kitkatzgr8



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: #Hamiltrash, #yayhamlet, And don't hesitate to give me ideas, Angelica and John are bros, I should be doing homework right now, I started writing another one, I'm such a great writer, John has a tortoise named Peggy, Lol this is Hamiltrash who am I kidding, Lots of Angst, Multi, Non-binary Lafayette because I want to, So bear with me please, This is the first somewhat good Modern AU I've written, When I still have two I'm supposed to be writing, anyway, but nope, but nothing graphic, i hope you enjoy, i think, mentions of abuse?, yup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-27 14:22:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10810776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitkatzgr8/pseuds/Kitkatzgr8
Summary: ~"Do you have a sown-mate?" John had asked his mom curiously, fidgeting in his seat as he waited for the response.Eleanor had laughed. "Soulmate, dear. And yes, of course I do! Your daddy is my soulmate!""Because you love him a lot?""Yes, but it goes deeper than that. You and your soulmate are connected, well, by your soul! You share a deep bond with each other since the moment you are born. A bond so deep that whatever happens to your soulmate's skin, it also happens to yours. Drawings, small notes, cuts, and bruises, even!" She shrugged. "The universe works in strange ways. Some people have soulmates that others consider 'mistakes,' but I think that every love is beautiful and planned in its own way."~John is a mistake, and he knows it. He sees the notes written on his skin every day, but he can't bring himself to respond. His soulmates would be better off that way, and he doesn't want to ruin the lives of the people he's never met but loves dearly.Because everyone is born with a soulmate.John has two.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, friends!!!!! Yes, it is I again, your favorite piece of Hamiltrash! Anyway, yeah, I was wondering how I would react in a world of soulmates, and then suddenly this happened. And, even though I have two ongoing fanfics, I decided to post it because hey, why not? It's already written, I might as well! 
> 
> So, about the plot... yeah, it's a 'whatever-you-write-on-your-skin-it-appears-on-your-soulmate's-skin' soulmate AU. Ah yes, another super-generic soulmate AU, I can just feel everyone's excitement! But I swear I'm going to try (emphasis on 'try') to make it a bit different than most of the Soulmate AUs out there, so I hope you give me a chance! Kinda trying out a different kinda story thing, I guess, so... hope it turns out okay.
> 
> So, if it isn't obvious, I don't own anything from Hamilton, so all credit for character design goes to the amazing Lin Manuel-Miranda! The only thing that I own is the plot, and to be honest, I feel like this has been done before. Ummm, the title is subject to change since I'm reallllllly bad at titles and I might think of a better one later. Thanks to anybody who actually reads this xD And... uh, yeah, I guess that's it! Let's get to the story!

It all started when John was five years old.

It was a Monday, he thinks. Then again, the memory was pretty fuzzy, having had happened years ago, but it had to have been on either a Monday, Wednesday, or a Friday because that was when his school was. He had just arrived in his usual kindergarten class when he saw a new face. Knowing everyone in his class extremely well, he immediately singled out the new kid, who was sitting at a desk in the corner with a book open in front of him. Everyone was playing around him, not even seeming to notice he was there. John frowned. Why wasn't he playing too? He was about to go over and maybe invite him to play cars with him, or maybe show him the class's turtle, but before he could reach him, his teacher called out that class was starting and John reluctantly returned to his seat.

Soon enough, it was free time, and John immediately set out for the coloring table. He sat down with one of his friends, and they chattered happily as they used their crayons and markers to, in her case, draw flowers, houses, her family, and in John's case, turtles. Lots of turtles. The class pet fascinated him, and he would have spent hours with his nose pressed against the glass to stare at the turtle in the aquarium if he could have. They were laughing over something she had said as John reached for another paper, and then stopped as John's little hand grabbed nothing. "Paper?" he said, confused. But all of the paper had been used up by the two.

The kindergartener looked at his scuffed up shoes and felt his eyes prickle with tears. Free time had always been spent drawing, and now, he couldn't draw! As he was only a child, the small problem immediately crushed his world, and tears began to slip down his cheeks, "Hey, what's wrong?" a small voice asked. John looked up to see the new kid standing in front of him.

John sniffed and wiped at his nose. "There's no more paper... and I wanna draw more..."

The kid stayed quiet for a moment, then reached out to grab the papers that John had already drawn on. His eyes widened. "Wow! These are good!"

"Y-you like...?"

The kid nodded vigorously. "Could you draw me a tur-tle?" he asked, enunciating each syllable of 'turtle' as he attempted to pronounce the word right.

John's face lit up, and then he frowned again. "No more paper," he repeated sadly.

"You can draw on..." the boy trailed off as he looked around the room for something to draw on. "On... on me!" the boy finished up triumphantly. He rolled up his sleeves as far as they would go and held out his arm to John.

John cocked his head to the side. He had never tried drawing on a person before. Picking up a green marker, he lightly pressed it against the boy's arm, then grinned at the marker slid smoothly across the skin. Soon, the boy's entire arm was covered in turtles.

"John, I like you a lot," the boy had said happily as John continued to scrawl little turtles on his arms and legs with his green marker.

At the end of the day, both of the young boys were sad to leave but brightened at the prospect of seeing each other tomorrow. Before John could turn to leave the classroom and go find his mom, the boy had quickly kissed him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow!" he had said brightly. John had felt his cheeks burn and something happen in his stomach. It was a weird, warm, fluttery feeling like he was sick but... a good sick. So good that nothing could take the smile off of his face on the car drive home.

"What's made you so happy, John?" his mom had asked with a smile as they began to drive home.

"There was a new kid, he let me draw on him when there was no paper! He was really nice!"

"Oh, you were drawing on each other, were you?" Eleanor said with a small shake of her head, but she still was smiling. "I guess that means that it's bath time for you!" she continued, teasingly.

John gasped. "No! He didn't draw on me, so I don't have to take a bath! Right?" he said hopefully.

"Honey, you can't hide from me! The proof is literally on your arms! Bath time it is." John looks at his arm in confusion, finally noticing the small turtles littering his skin. How had they gotten there? Figuring that the boy must have drawn them on his when he wasn't looking, he shrugged it off and forgot about it. "This boy sounds very nice. Maybe we could have him over some time, on a playdate?" his mother suggested as they pulled into the driveway of their house.

"Maybe. He said he was only vis-i-ting," John says importantly, the long word making him feel more grown up. "He said he was from... Ne..." he sighed, then shook his head. He couldn't remember. "But he was really nice! He sat by me when out teacher taught us about sown-mates and..." he trailed off. "Do you have a sown-mate?" he asked curiously.

Eleanor had laughed. "Soulmate, dear. And yes, of course I do! Your daddy is my soulmate!"

"Because you love him a lot?"

"Yes, but it goes deeper than that. You and your soulmate are connected, well, by your soul! You share a deep bond with each other since the moment you are born. So deep that you can sense what the other is feeling, and you can-"

"Can you do the thing my teacher did? He drew a star on himself, and then a star appeared on his wife in the same spot! It was really cool!" John said excitedly. 

His mother laughed. "Yes, honey, I can. Whatever happens to your soulmate's skin, it also happens to yours. All those ink spots that appeared on your hand one day, all of those strange bruises that appear out of nowhere, that was your soulmate! Drawings, small notes, even cuts and bruises, appear on both of you! Although, any harm that either one receives only hurts the person who originally got them, for some reason." She shrugged. "I guess it's for the better. I wouldn't want your father to get a broken arm if I ever slipped down the stairs or anything. The universe works in strange ways. Some people have soulmates that others consider 'mistakes,' but I think that every love is beautiful and planned in its own way. Didn't your teacher tell you all of this?"

"I was talking to the new kid," John admitted. "But I listened to a bit!" he said hurriedly.

Eleanor laughed. "Well, you were certainly attached at the hip with this new kid today!"

"We played together all day! And he said that he liked me a lot and we shared a mat at nap time and he kissed me on the cheek!"

The car stopped in the garage, and John moved to unbuckle his seatbelt, but his mom turned around and held out a hand to stop him. "John, sweetie," she began, her smile remaining on her face, but being a bit forced. "Maybe we shouldn't tell daddy about that last part, okay? I bet he would love the hear the first part in greater detail!"

John cocked his head to the side. "Why not the last part?"

"He might take it the wrong way," she said quietly, absentminded fixing the rearview mirror. "He's always quick to jump on little things like that. He doesn't see that you are only a kid, and I'm sure he'd get mad if he heard another boy kissed you."

"But... daddy kisses you all of the time?" John said curiously. "Why would he get mad?" His mom unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, and John followed. He grabbed her hand, and before they reach the door to the house, she stopped and knelt down to look at her son at eye level.

"Kissing isn't bad, John. But... some people get mad when boys kiss boys and girls kiss girls. Your daddy's a good man, but he likes everything to be perfect. And if he thought you liked boys, he wouldn't take that well. I mean, I can see that it was only an innocent kindergarten kiss, but he won't see it that way. He wants you to follow in his footsteps, and he doesn't want anything to get in the way of that."

John cut her off, completely missing most of what she said because he was focused on one thing. "Boys can like boys?"

She sighed, then nodded with a small smile. "Yes, boys can like boys. I know a good friend that has found that their soulmate is their same gender, and I've never seen a happier couple."

"But.. daddy doesn't like that?" She nodded. "Would you... hate me if I did?" John's lower lip begins to tremble at the thought of his parents hating him for any reason, his eyes burning like they did in class, and he felt a tear roll down one cheek.

She shook her head and picked up, holding him tight to her chest. "I could never hate you, John. I love you far too much. And if you decide that you like boys, I will still love you. Always remember that. Love is love, and I think it would be silly to stand in the way of that."

John hugged his mother back tightly, then pulled away and thought. "I think I love that boy," he said matter-of-factly, then wiggled out of his mother's grip and dashed off towards the door.

"John, wait!" his mother called out, and he slowly came to a halt. "Just... don't tell daddy, okay? This can be our little secret. You can keep secrets, right?" He had grinned and nodded.

John remembers that throughout that night, whenever his school was brought up in any way, his mom always seemed to direct the conversation away from instances in where John might talk about the boy. But when it was time for his father to tuck him in, his mother wasn't there. John was still jabbering on about 'sown-mates' and asking questions when the boy finally slipped out.

"Daddy, do you have to love your sown-mate?" John asked as he hopped up and down on his bed. "What if you like someone else?"

His dad chuckled and messed up his hair. "Well, no, you don't, actually, although your mother may say differently. People are coming more to terms with marrying outside of soulmates ever since they legalized it in most of the United States. Why do you ask, sport?"

"There was a new kid in class today. They were nice and let me draw turtles on them! I love them," John stated matter-of-factly.

His dad chuckled again. "Is she pretty?" he asked teasingly.

"It wasn't a she," John had said.

John didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to go back to the kindergarten class the next day, or the next week, or the next couple of months. But he didn't want his dad to get mad again and slap him like he had after he said that it wasn't a girl, so he didn't talk about it. And, a day later, when his dad got a phone call from someone and told him afterward that he wasn't allowed to contact his soulmate until later, John didn't put up a fight about that, either.

He hadn't known the real reason until later, that a certain Mr. Schuyler was already looking for important people to pawn his 7 year old daughter off to when she was of age, disregarding the entire idea of soulmates completely.

Even though John respected his father's wishes and didn't communicate with his soulmate, he still enjoyed the tingly feeling on his skin as little notes appeared on his inner arms and he eagerly looked forward to hearing from them. When the first one had appeared when he was 6, a messily scrawled "Hello," on his palm, he had almost screamed for joy. Every day, he would watch giddily as little hearts appeared around little 'I wish I could meet you's and 'I love you's. And the funny thing was, it looked like his soulmate talked to themselves a lot. John would giggle as the handwriting would switch from a perfect cursive written in light blue ink to a quickly scrawled response in dark blue ink. He wasn't sure why both the names 'Eliza' and 'Alexander' were used, but he didn't put much thought into it. If his soulmate was weird, so be it. He would love them no matter what. He built up a fantasy that his soulmate was so lonely without John, so they imagined that they were writing to him. And they when they met, John would make sure they were never lonely, and he would finally have a place in this world and be able to be a part of that love that his mom and his dad shared. "No, it's going to be better than mom and dad," he decided, then flopped back onto his bed and daydreamed about what their meeting would be like.

It was only when he turned 8 that he realized what the different handwriting signified. When he realized that something wasn't right.

When he realized that there was a mistake.

That he was a mistake.


	2. Lies and Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John is bros with Angelica and Peggy, and honestly, he just needs some love right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, 31 kudos within the first 24 hours??? Thank you so much, guys!! And thank you all so much for all the amazing comments; you guys are seriously the best! Anyway, here's another chapter! I hope it's okay!

John takes a deep breath as the car slowly comes to a stop, then forces a smile onto his face before turning towards the woman in the driver's seat. "Thank you so much for the ride, Angelica. I'm so sorry I had to ask on such short notice, but-"

"I get it, Johnny boy, don't sweat it," Angelica replies as she turns down the music, then turns towards John. "You'll be fine, right?" she asks, voice full of concern.

"Hey, why'd you turn down my jam, Angie?" a voice shouts from the backseat, and Angelica rolls her eyes.

"Trying to have a heart-to-heart, Pegs! Just chill for a second!"

John forces a laugh, then grins. "Of course I will. I'm John Laurens, in the place to be. I don't need to worry about my dad, and I'm finally free!" he jokingly rhymes, and Angelica rolls her eyes with a smirk.

"I hope by 'finally free,' you also realize that means free of money, as well as from your sorry excuse for a father."

John winces, but nods. "Yeah, painfully aware, Angie. Way to rub salt in the wound."

"Sorry," she says quietly. He turns to glance out of the window, then feels his heart leap as someone puts a hand on his shoulder and squeeze. Quickly pulling away, he feels his breath quicken as he flinches against the door before looking up to see Angelica looking at him with a saddened expression.

"Oh, John, I'm so sorry! I forgot about-"

John takes a calming breath, gripping his sleeves and trying to slow down his heartbeat. "N-no, it's fine, Angelica. I'm so s-sorry for flinching. I'm just a little... on edge today."

"You don't need to say sorry, I should have given warning," Angelica responds quietly. 

"And you say I'm insensitive!" Peggy calls from the backseat.

"Shut it, Margarita!"

Peggy suddenly appears, leaning on the armrest between the two. She sticks out her tongue at her older sister. "Don't call me that," she says, then points to John. "And I'm going to have to stick with John's view on this. Be positive for once, Angie! He's free! He has just enough money to finish this semester at college! He has me as a friend! Plus, you have to give Mr. Laurens some credit. He's not all bad! He did give his son approximately 10 minutes to grab what he could get the heck out of his house. I mean, what a nice gesture. How much more fatherly kindness can one show?"

Angelica snorts. "So kind."

"Yeah... he's a real...." John trails off.

***************************

"Now, remember," Henry Laurens had said as he grabbed his 8-year-old son's left hand and quickly scrawled a heart onto the back of it. "Be on your best behavior."

"Yes, sir," John whispered quietly. "But, why, sir? Who is com-"

There was the gentle 'ding-dong' of the doorbell, and Henry waved his son's question away as if it had never existed as he walked to the door. Opening it, he stood back to let two people in. On closer examination, John saw that it was a tall, important looking man standing next to what appeared to be three of his daughters. "So glad you could come, Mr. Schuyler. Please come in."

"John!" a voice had screamed. John looked up from his shiny black dress shoes to see a head of curly black hair dash towards him. She smoothed her pink dress as she looked down at his hand, then looked back up at his face with a huge grin. "It's you," she whispered, then hugged him firmly.

"Umm... hello?" he had said in confusion, looking up to his dad for help on who the girl was and why she was hugging him.

The girl ended her tight hug, then pulled back, still holding onto John's hands. "I can't believe I finally found you," she said happily.

"Found... me?"

"Ah, my apologies. Introductions must have slipped my mind. John, this is Miss Angelica Schuyler, daughter of Phillip Schuyler, the senator for New York. She's your soulmate."

John looks at the girl in front of him, who is almost bouncing up and down eagerly in her 10-year-old excitement. "See? Look, we match!" She held out her right hand, where a heart was carefully drawn on her skin.

John looked dumbly down at her hand as the two fathers shook each other's hands and began to discuss something with one another. "Ah, John. Take Angelica to your room. Get to know each other. Mr. Schuyler and I have something important to discuss in the study. Oh, and, take his other daughters, too. Keep them entertained," Henry had said distractedly before turning to lead the other man out the opposite door in the hall.

After a moment of silence, the girl spoke again. "So, where's your room, John? I want to know everything about my so-"

"It's on the wrong hand."

She looked at him in confusion. "Excuse me, what?"

"Your heart. The one that is supposed to match mine and prove that we're soulmates. It's on the wrong hand." He held out his hand, showing her that his was on his left, and hers indeed was on her right.

She paused, examining the two hands, then broke into laughter. "Indeed it is. Well, father didn't think that through much, did he? And here I was thinking that I was going to be meeting a bore! I see you're not as stupid as our parents believe you to be." She grinned again, then held out a hand, the one without the heart. "Angelica Schuyler."

"John Laurens," the boy replied as he shook her hand somewhat hesitantly.

"Oh, and my sisters! The girl in the blue is 'Liza, she's 8, and this," she picked up the little girl in a yellow sundress and spun her around, making her giggle. "Is Peggy! She's 4!"

"Um... hello! John said, waving at the two smaller sisters. Eliza hid behind Angelica shyly, but Peggy wiggled out of Angelica's grasp and waddled over to grab John's hand. "But, why-"

"Wait, 'Liza, why did you draw the heart on your hand?" Angelica cut him off. John looked at Eliza's hand curiously, and was surprised to see that there was a heart matching his own on her left hand.

Eliza also shared a confused look. "Angie, I didn't-" she said quietly.

"Was father really going to... even if I..." Angelica sighed. "Never mind. Father's a jerk. Let's take this to your room, shall we? I don't exactly want our fathers to hear that you figured it out so soon." And before he could ask what he was supposed to not be figuring out, she was already dragging him down the hall, asking which room was his.

"So, here's the dealio," Angelica had said, flopping back onto John's bed as he closed the door. John had pointed Eliza and Peggy towards his sibling's room, and they immediately went over to play. "Our parents, they're important, right? Phillip Schuyler: the senator of New York, Henry Laurens: the senator of South Carolina; they would only be more powerful if they could somehow be connected. Connected by, say, ignoring anything about true love and soulmates and pairing off their two unhappy children to ride off into the sunset and look pretty and have babies. You following me?"

"Isn't that... a bit illegal somehow?"

Angelica had laughed bitterly. "Well, not technically. It is wrong is so many ways, though. Basically, I don't want my 'lil sisters to be forced to marry for money, so I'll do it. The only person that could even have a chance to ruin this beautifully horrible plan is you. So, the plan was to dupe you, whom I was not informed actually had a brain, into believing that I was your soulmate, wait until you find out years later, and then not being able to do anything because we're all married and crap."

"Oh..." John said quietly. Then, he flopped back onto the bed next to her. "So, what do we do?" he said hoarsely. All he could think was, "Mom would never have let this happen."

Angelica shrugged. "What can we do, John?" That question had hung in the air for the rest of her visit.

****************************

"-but honestly, he's kinda..." Angelica looks at John, then rolls her eyes. "Annnnnd, he's gone." Snapping her fingers in front of her friend's face, she yells, "Hey, John! John! Johnnnnnnnnn. You in there?" John's eyes quickly snap to Angelica.

"Oh, sorry, did I...?" She nods, and he sighs. "Sorry, I'm listening one moment, and the next..."

She waves off his apology. "It's fine. What were you thinking about?"

"The first time we met." John smiles slightly as he thinks back to that seemingly bubbly black-haired girl all those years ago.

Peggy snorts. "Are you sure you guys aren't soulmates? Because with all the cliche lines, you honestly could be."

John ruffles her hair, then playfully shoves her back into her seat before continuing. "Y'know, at least Martha got the heart on the right hand. You were a horrible soulmate!" he teases.

"Martha? Manning? A better soulmate than me?" Angelia lets out a gasp and puts a hand over her heart. "Mr. Laurens, I am positively offended! I'm the greatest soulmate you're ever gonna get!" She laughs. "I'm still surprised that your dad thought he could fool you a second time with the soulmate thing!"

John laughs quietly as well. "Yeah, go figure."

"Speaking of soulmates..."

John looks down and nervously fiddled with the long sleeves of his shirt. "Angelica, I already told you, I don't have one! It has happened before! I've tried to contact them, but... I can just feel they're not there." He really hated to lie to his closest friend, but he had to. Especially since her sister was...

He shakes his head. It was good enough that he didn't have to pretend to be perfectly fine around Eliza today since she was hanging out with her friends; he didn't need another one of his flashbacks to ruin the small break. Pulling out his phone, he glances at the time, then frowns. "Anyway, I'd better go. I said I'd be at their room at 7."

"Wouldn't want to keep the lovebirds waiting," Angelica teases. "Be sure to tell them I said hi!"

"I will," he assures her as he opens the door to the car. Grabbing his backpack and swinging it onto his back, then pulling out his suitcase from the back, he's about to close the door when Angelica cuts him off.

"You sure you're going to be fine, John?" she asks again.

He scoffs. "Look at who you're talking to. I've been through worse, Angie. This is a breeze. I'll be fine."

"... Okay, if you're sure. But if you need anything, if your dad somehow comes back into your life, if you actually get the guts to tell me who your soulmate is because I know you're hiding something under those sleeves, if French Fry and Flower Boy get too kissy-kissy," John laughs, "you call me, got it? I wish I could offer you a place to stay, but-"

"Angie, it's fine. I get the deal with your dad. Besides, I practically live with these guys. Rooming with them for a while isn't going to be that hard."

"Alright, but still-"

"Angie, I'm going to miss the movie if we don't leave now!" Peggy shouts from the back. "Just say 'okay love you' and let's go already!"

Angelica rolls her eyes yet again. "Fine. Stay safe, Johnny boy. Oh, and..." rummaging through her bag, she pulls out a small container of painkillers and tosses it to him.

"Thanks," John says in relief, tucking them away. "You stay safe, too, Angelica. See ya, Pegs," John says, smiling slightly as he closes the car door.

"Bye John, bye Peg-leg!" he hears Peggy shout, and he smiles as he slips his hand into his jacket pocket, hand lightly brushing over the smooth shell of the tortoise that he had named after the youngest Schuyler sister. He stands there, one hand on his suitcase, one lightly petting his tortoise, as he watches Angelica and Peggy drive off, and sighs.

He stands there for ten minutes, staring off into the city, college students weaving their way around him before he sighs and heads off to the dorm. Before he knows it, he's there, standing in front of the room that his friends had offered to let him stay in until he could get back on his feet. He hesitates, his clenched fist held up and ready to knock on the door. Staring blankly at the numbers '1776' inlaid in bronze on the door, he tries to bring himself to knock. He really didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to impose himself on his friends, even if he really did have no place to go. "It was my fault my father kicked me out," he reminded himself. "If I was a better son, if I didn't try to dump Martha, if I wasn't... gay..." He slowly shakes his head, and right as he is about to turn and go find a nice bench to sleep on in the park, the door opens.

"John, mon ami, you're here! What are you waiting out here for?" a voice shouts in a thick French accent. John can't help but grin.

"Hey Laf," he says quietly. "How's it going?"

"Great!" Please, come in!" Before John can say anything else, the Frenchman grabs his hand and pulls him in.

"John!" Hercules shouts before pulling his friend into a hug. John winces as his ribs cry out in pain, but he hugs Herc back. Silently, he curses his father and decides he'd have to check out his ribs later.

"Hey, man. Good to see you again!" John says, forcing a small smile.

"Good to see you again too! Now, be honest with us, are you okay?"

"Yeah, man, I'm totally fine. My dad just doesn't trust me with our house while he's gone on a trip, so he asked me to find somewhere to stay. I kinda just remembered this morning, that's why I was a little panicked earlier-"

"Panicked? Mon ami, you sounded like you were crying!" Lafayette jokes, nudging John playfully.

"-but I should be able to go back, say, in a week or two?" he continued, ignoring Lafayette's statement. The lie itself rolled easily off his tongue. He told himself that it was for a good cause, that he just didn't want to worry his friends, but he still felt a little guilty. The only people he really trusted with anything about his crappy home life was Angelica, and sometimes Peggy, and even then it was just because they were in the same situation as him.

"Wow. Your father does not give you the best trust," Lafayette says with a laugh.

John forces a smile. "Nah, he really doesn't. What can I say? I'm a klutz! I'd probably have accidentally destroyed half the house before he got back."

Hercules laughs. "Well, anywho, you're always welcome here!" Walking over to one of the doors, he opens it slightly and gestures John in. "You'll be staying in Laf's room while you're here, if that's okay."

"Oh, I was expecting, like, the couch... ?" John said, surprised. "Wait, where's Lafayette going to sleep?"

Hercules grins. "Well, in the interest of present company, I decided to take one for the team and let Laf share-"

"Okay, okay, I get it, forget I asked. Just please be quiet, okay? I want to sleep at night!"

The two laughed. "No worries, mon ami, just for you," Lafayette teases. "Speaking of which, have you found l'amour de votre vie yet?"

John laughs. "I already told you guys, I'm not like you! You guys are the dream couple, and I'm forever alone."

"Sureeeeeee," Herc teases.

"You'll find them eventually, petit garçon de tortue," Lafayette reassures him. "But for now... Disney movie marathon!"

"Yeah..." John murmurs as he watches Hercules and Lafayette fight over what movie to watch, Lafayette eventually winning with 'Beauty and the Beast' after multiple kisses. Pulling up his sleeve slightly, he feels a small tingle as light blue cursive swirled its way across the scars on his wrist.

'I can't wait for tomorrow! Love you, Alexander!" he reads, and he closes his eyes. Why couldn't everything be normal? Why couldn't he be a normal teenager, meeting up with his beautiful soulmate every day, writing cute notes to her every day? That was all he really wanted out of his life. To belong. To be normal. To-

"John! Movie's starting!" Hercules calls from the other room, and John sighs, pulling his sleeves back over his wrists. There was no point in wishing for the impossible. He was a mistake, and that was that. Taking out the painkillers and silently thanking Angelica as he slides one into his hand, he pops it into his mouth and hopes that the sharp stabs in his ribs will fade to a bearable, dull throbbing soon. Then, with one last tug at his sleeve, he plasters on a smile, pulls out Peggy the tortoise, and walks in to spend the night watching Disney movies with his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Agh this is my first time writing a non-binary character (Laf) because I kinda want to experiment with writing more of the LGBT+ community? So if I did/do something wrong or insult something accidentally, please tell me so I can fix it? Thank you all so much! Oh, and if Peggy seems a little insensitive, I don't mean to make her that way. Humor and just glazing over the problem is a way that I cope with basically everything, and I guess that accidentally carried over xD
> 
> Question of the day: How are you all doing today, my lovelies? Tell me about your day because I'm honestly lonely as frick

**Author's Note:**

> So... how did I do? Comment your thoughts, compliments, criticisms, and ideas! I appreciate anything and everything! Also, if you see any grammatical mistakes, or any mistakes in general, PLEASE POINT THEM OUT! I will not take offense at being corrected! Well... um, yeah. Hope you enjoyed it somewhat! Have a great day or night (I don't time discriminate)
> 
> Question of the Day: What's your favorite song from a musical (doesn't have to be 'Hamilton!')?
> 
> Also, what's a common ship for Peggy? I wanna give the Pegs some love


End file.
